Method of filling mattresses.



No. 891,830. PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908. F. PRANKE. METHOD 0F FILLINGMATTRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.10,1904.

INVENTORI WITNEsEs:

ATTORNEY FERDINAND FRANKE, 0F CLARK COUNTY, INDIANA.

METHOD OF FILLING MATTRESSES'.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 30, 1908.

Application filed November l0, 1904. Serial No. 232,217.

To all Iwhom it may concern:

Beit known that I, FERDINAND FRANKE', a citizen of the United States,residing on Itural Free Delivery Route No. 1, in the county of Clark andState of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Method of FillingMattresses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of mattresses and has for itsobject lthe provision of an im )roved method of filling said mattresses,whereby the filling material of cotton, down, feathers, or the like,will be deposited in a layer of uniform thickness and without lumps.

These objects I attain by means of the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawing which represents the embodiment ofmy invention in aperspective view, showing parts broken away to show the internal workingparts, and the bedtick in section so as toshow the manner of depositingthe fiber.

1 representsV the frame of the machine; 2,

the drum of the picker; 3, the blower; 4, the air tube 5 the feel beltconveyer; 6, a bed? tick; 7, the flange on air tube 4; and, 8, thepickedffiber deposited in the bedtick. The drum 2 is studded with teethshar ened at their outer ends and slanted slight y in the direction ofmotion. The fiber in lumped and packed condition is scattered upon thebelt conveyer 5 and is fed to corrugated rollers of small diameter ofthe form usual in such apparatus and not illustrated in the drawing,disposed parallel with and immediately behind drum 2 and as close aspracticable to the ends of the picker teeth. The drum 2 is covered witha hood. The floor of hood 9, immediately under drum 2, is provided withan opening, which is connected by means of a tube 10, with the center ofblower 3. The blower 3 is located preferably just below drum 2 and hood9 and is preferably of the conventional centrifugal type, inclosed witha casing 11. The delivery-opening of -the blower may be toward the frontof the machine and is provided with a tube 4. At the outer end of thistube isa sheet metal collar, 7, over which the bedtick is fastened.

The tube 4 is located about 12 or 18,:.nches above the floor uponwhichthe machine rests in order that the bedtick attached thereto may lieflat upon the floor when inflated in the process of filling, as shown inthe drawing. The bedtick 6 is sewed up,'with the eX- ception of a smallslit or o en seam left in the middle of one end in or er that it may beslipped over collar 7.

The operation of the machine will now be readily understood. The fiberto be picked is placed upon the belt conveyer 5 and fed to thecorrugated` rollers, by which it is rolled in, and held fast inproximity to the rapidly revolving pointed teeth of the drum. The teethtear the material into fine bits and shreds, and the centrifugal force,due to the rapid rotation of the drum, together with the suctionproduced by blower 3, causes the picked fiber to flyfrom the teeth. Whenvthe picked fiber reaches the oor of hood 9 it is drawn through theopening and tube 10 into blower 3 along with the air that has been drawnin through hood 9. Then the mixture of air and fiber is forcibly blownthrough tubefi into the bedtick. In the bedtick the fiber suspended inthe air circulates about, and, as the air is forced through theinterstices of the ticking, the iber settles down upon every portion ofthe side of the bedtick adjacent to the floor, even in the sharpestcorners. The quantity of fiber to be used to ll a bedtick is iirstweighed before it is fed into the machine, and thus uniform iilling isattained. Heretofore it has been diiiicult to avoid a wadded and lumpycondition of the filling of bedticks filled with ber, and the corners ofthe tick could not be properly filled out, but with my improvement thefilling is perfectly uniform, the corners being perfectly filled out.Heretofore, alsowith the conventional stufiing machines, it has beennecessary to leave an entire end ofthe tick o en to be sewed up after itwasiilled, but I eave only a small portion to be sewed after the fillinghas been mj ected.

Having thus described my invention so that any one skilled in the artpertaining thereto may make and use it, I claim- 1.` The hereindescribed method of forming mattresses which consists of directing anair blast into the tick of the mattress to inl said tickvis inflated,and delivering-the iilling Hate it and discharging the illing materialmaterial in a layer of uniform thickness, into into said tick along Withsaid air blast. the mattress While so inated.

2. The herein described method of-form FERDINAND FRANKE. 5 ingmattresses which consists of conducting Witnesses:

an air blast from the discharge pipe of a HERMAN HILLENBRAND,

picker directly into a mattress tiek whereby E. T. COOK.

